Friday, January 18, 2013

guinn girls quick post....

well hello there, faithful followers.  you are faithful if reading this because my posts are so few and far between.  mothering two is a lot different than one. i used to have at least a little bit of time to document life.  can't seem to find that time anymore.

both little guinn girls are about to wake from their nap so here's the quick!! hopefully i'll find some time later to do this right.

EVY GRACE GUINN -- 10 months old. i believe the last we updated she was 5 months old. yikes!

  • she is still the smiliest, happiest little thing around.  
  • she is a go-getter and always on the move. she chases everyone from room to room. me, joy, pipes, trey...she wants to be where the action is and doesn't miss a beat. 
  • she walks behind her little stroller, climbs on top of everything (dangerous!), and can stand free-standing all by herself.  has taken a few steps here and there followed by a quick leap to her knees and off she goes...i feel walking is just around the bend.
  • she says mama and dadda (i'm not fully convinced she knows that's what she's saying), says hi, and waves... and makes all sorts of other little babbly sounds. she loves to squeal and just be heard, basically.
  • she signs "more, more, more!" this is her newest trick.
  • claps her hands on demand
  • is in love with "where is babies belly button" book.
  • she's really in to unloading all drawers, toy bins, and shelves.  we've yet to master "clean up"
  • still nursing, we've been giving her a bottle at night in addition.  on day's when trey works late and i'm getting both girls ready for bed, my poor little second child just sits there in her high chair giving herself her own bottle...she's very much a do-it-myself type anyway so i don't think she actually minds
  • she's kind of over puree's.  she tries to grab the spoon to feed herself and food flies everywhere so the majority of her solid-intake comes from things she can feed herself.
  • she is just growing up so fast.  even joy is noticing all the new things that her sister can do.  she'll say, "oh my goodness! evy is a big girl now!".... when evy does a new big girl thing, or something that only joy used to be able to do.
she has stolen our hearts and we are so in love.

JOYBIRD!

oh.my.guinness. i always feel like the stage we're in is the best stage yet!  although, discipline and testing her limits has about done me in...that's the downside of a 2.5 year old.  but, my favorite thing about this age is watching and HEARING her mind work. the things she thinks up and the things she says are truly priceless.  i keep saying i'm going to start a book of joy quotes.  This little one is so fascinating and sharp as a tack.
  • a few of my favorite things right now are listening to her pray, listening to her make up her own stories in books and read them to her stuffed-friends.
  • i love hearing her run down of the days events...either what we're going to do or all that we have done. and sometimes she'll just go on and on and on in full paragraphs with such detail and recap her day for puppy or her bear. it's so funny.
  • i love the excitement in her voice with everything she says and does. she is so animated.
  • we're on a "remember that" kick.  she'll say, "remember when i went to school yesterday and i played with olli-bear and he helped me pick up my things. remember that, mommy!" 
  • we pulled down all her clothes from age one to see what evy had to look forward to and OH MAN.... (i have this on video but blogger won't let me post any more pics or vids before i pay money)...."she says, REMEMBER THIS TOP!! REMEMBER THESE SHORTS, MOMMY! remember when i wore these when i was a baby!"  this little bin of clothes just made her entire day. she went through each item ooohing and aaahhing over how cute each thing was and how good it was going to look on evy. hilarious.
  • she's starting to get a little frustrated with "baby evy" because evy doesn't know that she can't just grab joy's things, tear them up, put them in her mouth, etc..." she goes from having super sweet moments with evy...where she'll say things like, "ooooh baby evy. i love you so much... to, "NO EVY!!!! DON'T GET MY THINGS!!!" ha.  we've had a few precious moments and they are beginning to happen more often where they are actually playing together.  i put them both in evy's crib and was standing outside the door spying and they were rolling around laughing and giggling together.  i seriously stood there and started crying.  it was one of the sweetest moments. 
  • the other day joy was "reading" one of trey's communication handbooks.... she says, "THIS....is my bible-book and it is ALL about jesus". (apparently any book without pictures is a bible-- and fair game for her to make up the entire story".  she then proceeded with, "and then, joy and jesus were eating chicken nuggets." (i'm standing in the kitchen and shout, WHAT!, you and jesus were eating chicken nuggets!"..... she turns back and says, "mommy, i want to go see jesus....can we get in our car, and i'll sit in my carseat, and evy can sit in her carseat, and we can go see jesus at his house"..... this is the second time that she has mentioned wanting to SEE this Jesus character ;) oh, teaching faith to a two year old.....
  • she's really enjoys her FULL name. and sometimes when i call her joy she responds with, "no, i'm AVERY GUINN".
  • she shouts down the hall at trey saying, "BABE, BABE! what are you doing!" trey responds, "getting dressed for work avery guinn."  ha.
  • ooooooh i almost forgot the sweetest thing, every night her and trey have this special time... "talking with daddy". she'll say "daddy, can we talk" and they lay on the couch or the floor and trey asks her all about her day and she tells him everything that she did.  it's become something that she looks forward to each night.  so sweet.
that's all for now. as mentioned, this super cool blogger won't allow me to uplaod any more pics unless i pay $2.99 a month. NO THANKS. i need to figure out how to clean up picasa web albums so i can download again. until then, enjoy my words.

no time to edit, re-read this mess of a post!!

and ps. we totally dropped the christmas ball on sending out a family card... thank you ALL for your sweet cards.  we really enjoy them!!   

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

oh my blog!

....it's been forever! just parused below-vids and realized my children have change  SO MUCH since  then.

i think i'll try to pick this ol' blogging biz back up-- at least through evy's first birthday!! ;)
lots to post, perhaps coming soon. don't hold me to it.

for now a few pics.... completely random, no order, and no explanation. enJOY enEVY.

















Tuesday, October 16, 2012

phone-vid stash










Tuesday, October 2, 2012

driving w the joybird

this girl does NOT perform on demand.  but her sweet little singing voice and her recent interest in making up her own songs is worth capturing. she sings non-stop in the car and entertains trey, evy, and me the whole way.
SO, i'm going to start recording like this ;)  i'd love to turn my camera around and get her but then she stops mid-song. 
so until we exit this little "no mommy take my picture" phase..... i leave you with this:





Wednesday, September 26, 2012

training update!

unfortunately, my training has come to an abrupt hault!  as seen below, i was off to an excellent start. i signed up for the dallas full and was feeling confident. and then i COMPLETELY fell off the wagon and have only been running twice a week for the past, oh gosh, month or so?! yikes!!

the sad news is, i don't think i can pull of my goal by december. maybe i can? trying to decide if i want to get serious and prioritize this or just start fresh and shoot for the austin full....
regardless, i signed up for dallas so i'll at least do the half (i think i'm in fine shape to PR for the half) it's just the full i'm concerned about because of the lack of time to get in the mileage it takes! 

i'll keep you posted on what i decide!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
with 2 weeks under my little training belt i am feeling SO GOOD!  the best thing i have going for me is my training partners!  
I've been running with two of trey's RA's from Duren.  One of the guys ran the austin marathon last year in 2:59 (perfect!) and the other one ran the houston in 3:07 (my old pace!). so it's just amazing all around. and, of course, i'm still able to get my long runs in at town lake once a week with my doc.  
basically, these guys are FAST. and it is pushing me to my limit which is really paying off.  
so here's what training has looked like so far:
3 semi-fast (23:46)/7:55 pace
4 miles in the strattford hills (so hard!) 33 min/8:15 pace
4 mile w/patrick 32:00/8:00 pace
9 at town lake (slow and easy) 1:19/8:47 pace
4 miles at shoal creek 32:15/8:04 pace
6 miles late night campus loop 45:00/7:30 pace (finally feeling easy!) 7:30 did NOT feel easy 2 weeks ago so progress is definitely being made and it feels good.
9 @ town lake 1:18/8:40 pace.  for a 6:45 marathon pace i should be running long runs at 8:45 pace so this is where i should stay.
6 miles @ dusk from campus to town lake (peace park trail) 41:14/6:52 pace (no way!)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

PORT-A.

sorry for the half-viewable vids.  my blog isn't set up for video viewing success. i'll work on this.





we went to the beach last minute with matt, mindy, and grant!  it was such a great weekend and i don't think joy has ever had more fun in all her life. the entire 3.5 hour trip home she kept telling us all the things she wished she were still doing instead of going back to our house.

could not get these pictures in any sort of order...but here we go:


i had to cage evy in since she's all over the place.  a crawling babe is not ideal for the beach. they either need to sit still or walk. but she won't sit still. its always on the go and eating sand is probably not a good option. SO, i banned her from the beach after day one. 
we'll do it up big next year, evs...when you're walking!!














Wednesday, September 12, 2012

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY, BABY EVY!!

stats:
weight: 15.7 lbs = 35th %tile
height: 24.75 inches = 10th %tile (shorty!)
head: 16.38 inches = 18th %tile
eyes: TBD (although the doc said they are too blue to turn brown at this point?) maybe blue, navy blue-ish, green? only time will tell.
thighs: THUNDER!  they are the best!! ;)
hair: starting to grow. yay!  was dark brown at birth and is now growing in a lighter shade of brown
feet: tiny. just like joys were.


what she's doing:
  • crawling FAST, and everywhere, and with such determination! 
  • CLIMBING. all the way to a stand. it's pretty dangerous at this stage in the game and is making me crazy. she already fell in her crib and hit the wood slats with her head.  so i now understand the real meaning of crib bumpers. i always thought they just looked pretty.  those mesh breathables don't do jack! SO i switched back to the padded ones. i also lowered her crib in order to prevent future scaling. didn't work. she still climbs.
* so here's something i've learned about evy--
clearly, learning to crawl is a physical and a mental game.  you need the strength and you need the cognitive development to move all limbs in unison to get from a to b.  you also need to care and want to move.  well, i've decided that evy's mental game is far ahead of the rest of her game...she's willing herself to do things that i'm not quite positive she's physically ready for. the physical catches up pretty quickly because there's no option. but we seem to go through a week of "the danger zone" until she gets there.  like, pulling to a stand on the wooden floor when she hasn't mastered balancing. 
  • she enjoys chasing balls. she pushes these little toy balls down the hall and then crawls to them as fast as she can squealing with delight the whole way. pretty darn cute.  She and pipes are, clearly, growing to be fast friends since fetch is their fave. ;)
  • eating rice cereal and loving it.  doing this for a week and then adding fruits and veggies!
  • napping great. no paci/no thumb. just content and puts herself to sleep.  same schedule 8:30-10, 12:30-2, 3:30-4.  transitioning to two naps and making nap number 2 1:00-3:00. bedtime = 6:30 -7 ish.  still waking to eat at night. about to cut her off. although last night she went 10 hours so maybe she has made the turn! prayers welcomed because i am TIIIIRED! she does sleep 12 hours at night though. and the 1 or 2 nursing's are only a 5 minute ordeal. ptl.
  • starting to climb up things.  NOT OKAY. hold tight there, baby evs. 
  • just got through about a week of separation anxiety.  she noticed that i was leaving after putting her down for naps and bed and would cry and watch the door.  she still notices but has gotten okay with the idea.
  • teething! no teeth yet but i believe they are just around the bend.
  • experimenting with quite a few new noises! and when you make her noises back at her she laughs like it is the funniest thing EVER.
  • still loving interaction with ANYONE and everyone.  
  • loves joy.  crawls over to see what joy is doing at all times.  tries to crawl up joy and use her to stand.  
  • wants to play with joys toys while joy is playing with them.  joy is really good about redirecting evy to her toys or bringing evy something else to play with. so funny.
  • she just started this new little maneuver that is hilarious! she goes from a crawl position to...what is that yoga position where you're on your hands and feet and your butt is up in the air? she goes back and forth between the two positions and it cracks us up.  need to catch that on video.
  • she loves being outside. we stroll often. all over this side of campus and through the dorms.  she enjoys flirting with fiji's and the girls of SRD. ;)
* that's all for now. we're only one week in to the 6th month so i'll add to this + pictures!

* i'm about to rock this little girls world with a little fall feast i whipped up and froze for her! she's officially mastered sweet potatoes. next is butternut squash and then my roasted sweet potato, squash, apple + nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice medley! 
it's a great time of year to be a first time eater. get ready, girl! fall is upon us.




Monday, August 27, 2012

ready or not, here she comes...




with a heavy emphasis on the OR NOT.

evy's on the move and fast....one minute she's in the living room, and the next she's in joy's room.  oh my gosh! i really wish she would stay on her little play blanket for another month or two...i really am not ready for her to be crawling and here's why. for starters, she's a little too young and still not completely sturdy so when she gets to the wood floor flipping over is still a possibility. she's also attempting to go from a crawling position to a sitting position, another semi-dangerous maneuver-- especially when she's off-roading. 
well, i think it's safe to say we are prime candidates for one of those playpens that cage the little babes in to a predetermined space. 

in other news around here, trey is just about done with that whole PhD thing.  he has worked so hard...not only in completing his degree but taking on what seems to average about 3 to 4 other side jobs per semester.  I have never known someone so capable at juggling so many responsibilities at once...and to do so with such a positive attitude, never complaining, and excelling in each area. truly unbelievable.  

joybird is growing up so fast... we recently made an online purchase for her "fall wardrobe". most of our favorite hot-spot shops were offering 25-30% off so we acted fast!  the goal always being to buy minimal items that can be worn several different ways. quality over quantity, of course. well, joy likes to weigh in on these decisions.  she'd point to the screen and say "i want to wear that dress!"  i let her pick which color of skinny jeans she wanted and w/o any hesitation she chose yellow, of course.  we got the whole shipment in the mail last night and i was so excited to show her everything this morning. she ran into the living room like it was christmas.... she see's all the clothes and says. "oh my goodness, mommy!!! they're so pretty!!!" ha. and then we tried everything on (her favorite past time). she got so into it and would run down the hall to look in the mirror with each new top.  she is determined to make those yellow skinny's go with everything.  "i wear my yellow jeans!" i tried to explain to her that it's REALLY hot out and that shorts might be the better option for another month or so. we'll see how long it lasts. 

all are well around here and i am LOVING the ages of these precious girls. 2.5 ish and almost 6 months. something about this combo just seems magical!  i want to freeze them right here for a few months and soak up each little moment. 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

mama-meej's shower

we threw a shower for mama-mija this past weekend in San An!  So many people came to spoil sweet baby varga!

papa joe and bebe watched the girls so that coco, bud and I could fulfill our showerly-duties 
look at those two little matching babes!
oh hey, mrs mitchell ;)
the varga's decided to reveal their sweet girls name via a little game of hangman!
this was SO much fun!!
joy, quite obviously, stoked about meeting her little cousin charlotte.  although, i believe, she's a little more excited about all those letters. kind of on a letter kick. preferably caps. ;)
there's really nothing better than baby delivery day. and i find myself living vicariously through all these people who are just about to, or just have, delivered!  i just can't believe in one little month mama-meej will be in the hospital meeting her precious charlotte elise.  i can hardly contain my excitement for her...i don't think she even knows what's coming-- until you're in that moment, it's hard to even imagine the greatness of it!

we love you, charlotte elise varga!! and can hardly wait to kiss your sweet little face!


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

lovely little floral flat

old navy. 19 dollars
i found them on sale for 10 back in the spring of o nine.

and if only i could go back in time, i would have bought 5 more pairs of this little treasure.  i have NEVER owned a more comfortable shoe...ever.
i wore this little gem all over switzerland and walked for miles and miles.  i have actually gone running in these things (not really for workout purposes-- more for needing to get from a to b and fast)...and the comfort is off the charts.
i throw these on with just about EVERYTHING.  if you live with me in the atx (shells) i know you've seen me wear this for just about any and all occasions.

anyway, just wanted to share. in case old navy gets their act together and re-creates this perfect floral flat. i don't even need the cute floral pattern (although it has been quite the touch) anything will do.   i check their site fairly often. haven't found it yet. so if you do, please tell me!!


Monday, August 20, 2012

evy + joy = love

"oh hey, evy!!", as joy would say in a super sweet high-pitched voice...

my little side-kick joybird... doesn't skip a beat



 evy is bead-obsessed. she will make her way across an entire room in record time when she spots beads...
sweet-sister joy decides to share....
 and then decides maybe she wants them back...

 she redirects with sophie the giraffe...

o my gosh, those eyes!
 off to lunch with pups.
"

guinnpod

jag